Rail connection.



UNITED STATES PATENT oFFICE.

GBCBGE'FUSSBLL, or VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANA-IIA, AssIGIion or ONE- HALF To MARK DILLoN, or VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA;

BAII. CCIINECTICN.

, To all 'wh-omz'tmy concern:

'Be it known that I, Grenen FUssBLI.,

citizen of the United States of America, re 'I siding at Vancouver, in the ,Province of 5. British Columbia, Canada., havev invented a new and useful Rail Connection, of` which the following is a specification. l

This invention relates to a railway .joint l connection which has been particularly de- .10 signed as a substitute for the bolt-connected fish plates which are in common use. These bolt connected fish plates may form a'satisfactory rail joint when bolts of suliicient strength are used yand when these boltls'are '15 maintained tightly screwed up but under the 4intense vibration to which vthey are exposed bypassing traliicit isi diliicult to maintain this condition and they rapidly become slack land the joint is not then an effective one as it is too yielding and permits onerail end 'to more down in relation tothe otheras a,

wheel passes over the joint, with obvious .l injury to both track and' rolling' stock.

' Ihese objectionsareovercome in the invention which is the subject of this application, by the provision of 'an integral joint con- .nection comprising two plate members eX- "tending alongboth sidesof each rail from the joint, which plate members are. strongly 3o tied together to exert the required hold upon the rails by an integral connection extending between them, `provision for which :is formed in the web of each rail at their abutting joint. I l

This joint connection is so proportioned that the rail ends are required to be forced into it' and these ends closely fit, while the ends of the connected joint plates exert alpowerful resilient hold on .each rail adja- 40 cent t-o its end. In other words the plates Y are curved and arranged with the ends` nearer together than the middle portion so that j they must be forcedapart, as the rail ends l are inserted as '45 the drawing'` The general construction and essential yfeat-'ores of this joint connection are particul larly described in the,I following specification',

reference being 4made to the'drawingsvby plates may have a slight entering flarebr,

oo whichfit is accompanied, in which;

- Specication of Letters ,Patent best indicatedl in of' 4Figure lis a side elevation of 'the joint.

' 'Patented Mar. 18,1913. Application le'd August 15, 1912. Serial No. 71.."a ,15-1.

as applied. Fig. 2, a planofthe joint coni nection apart from the rail.' Fig. 3, an ele- ,vation` of thel rail joint with the near-plate removed showing theI relation of the rail ends to the connection. Fig. 4, a cross section of the joint on the line A in Fig. l, and Fig. 5, a cross sect-ion of the joint.` on the line B.

;In these drawings'represents the ends ofthe rails which it isrequired to connect. From the end .of each rail a triangular portion 4 is removed from the web between the head ofthe rail and flange forming the diag' onal half of a square, which square is complete when the rail ends abut against one another. v j

The rail connectlon comprlsestwo plate.v members 5 extendlng along" each rail a suliiycient distance to afford the necessary support against flexure at thejoint. Each plate member 5 will preferably bear, as is usual with a fish plate, against the underside of the head of the rail and a corresponding amount of the upper side of the iange, as

shown atb, in the .cross sections, and may havev a short bearing on the web and its .tillen as atl 7. Between the bearing rib-like port-ions of the plate members aiwhere they engage the web as at 7, the plates are preferably spaced from the web, as best shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, to be out of contact with thel web between the upper and lower points 7, sh'own best in Fig. 5 oit' the drawing. These plate members 5 are connected together at their midlengthby a portion 8, which is integral with the plates and is shaped as shown in Fig. 3, to conform to the square formed by thev two triangular portions removed from the webs of the rails. Adjacent to the middle, the distance be tween the contact bearings 6. of each plate is such that the' rail ends will closely lit be-A tween them and this width between the bearings 6 is initially less at the ends lof the plates, see Fig. 2,- so thaty the rail ends require to be forcibly driven or pressed into Iza taper, as shown in Fig.` The lateral depth of the connection -atthemiddle, where the two plates ltraue joilid'toguether by 8, must-be sufficient to afford ample strength to the plate members and enable them to exert the vnecessary powerful grip Vat their l' ends on the rails, and the plat'ewinembers will be strongly webbed up from 1j tbeends' to the middle in the furtherance offthisobject. To lighten the connection and 'favoid the-effects: ofl unequal shrinkage, the""eonnectin`g'mein-.ll cored through from one sidetovv ber 8 may be the other.

1n applying'this bonnectidn, the rail ends will be forcibly inserted between the lplat/$5.2 i and will be pressed tightly up againstthej.

connecting member 8 leavlng only sufficient room for expansion according to the temperature at which the track is'laid.` Being thus forcibly pressed in the rail ends will closely lit between the seats 6 of the plates at the middle and at the ends, that at the l middle being a rigid hold while that at the ends will be strongly resilient, the resilience being such that it will not yield under traffic `but will maintain a constant strong grip to compensate for any slight wear.

The construction (best shown in Fig. 2), whereby the ends of the plates are brought closer together than the plates are in the middle is of importance so as to insure that the greatest holding pressure is exerted at the extreme ends of the plates where the greatest supporting strength should be ap-4 plied.

This forms an essential feature in the invention a-sotherwise a satisfactory fit would be difficult to attain.

lith the end rails of a section, the length of which may vary according to the require- .nrents of construction and repair, t-he connecting plate members 5 cannot be formed integral as the rail ends cannot be introduced; but the same general idea is preserved by securely fastening the two plates 5 together by a heavy Arivet through the .cored aperture of the connecting portion S ment in relation to one another and that rail end supports have been used having extensions ofleach side of the rail which are integraf-with one another. This last has, however, includeda portion ofthe tread of t-he -rail and does'vnot conflict with the constructhis invention. These essential features are set forth in the following claims.

Claims:

1. A rail connection, comprising two plate members, one on each side of the rail, which plate members are provided throughout theirmlength with contact seats to bear against-the underside of the head and the corresponding upper side of the flange of the v'ra1l,'s'a`id'plate members being slightly oncave towardone another and connected which will-*secure them apart at then` midlength a distance equal to the distance apart ofthe contact seats on the rail, said concavity serving to bring the ends of the plates closer together than the middle portion of the same.

2. A rail connect-ion, comprising two plate members provided throughout their length with contact seats to bear against the underside ofthe head and the corresponding upper side of the flange of` the rail and also against a portion of the web adjacent thereto, said plate members being slightly concave on the side toward the rail and strongly connected together at their midltogetherat their midlengt-h by a. portionv `tion here set forth as essential vfeatures of length at a distance apart corresponding to the distance apart of their seats on the rail, said connecting port-ion being integral with the plates` said concavity serving to bring the ends of the plates closer together than the middle portions of the same.

3. A Arail connection. comprising two platemembers connectedtogether at their niidlength by' a portion integral with the plate, said Iconnecting portion being square in cross section, the diagonal of the square vertically disposed, said plate members having contact seats throughout their length to bear on the underside of the head and corresponding upper :side of the flange on each side,- the distance between the contact seats of the plates at each end being less than the distance between the contact seats of the'rail when free from the rails.

4. A rail connection, comprising thecombination with rail ends from the webs of which a triangular portion has been removed, of plates fitting closely between the rail head and flange end on the web, said plates connected together by a port-ion integral with the plates passing through the space formed between the rail ends, the ends of said plates having a strong resilient grip on the rail.

. 5. A rail connection, comprising the com? connect-edv together through the mile by a In testimony whereofhave signed my portion integral' with the plates and conname to this specification. in the presence' of forming to the aperture in the rail joint, two subscribing Witnesses.

said plates being closer together at the' ends y v GEORGE U SSELL, l5 than at themiddle yvhen free of the rails VWitneeSesz A and having at the ends an entering flare. toI ROWLAND- BRHTA'IN,

enable the vrail endstogbe inserted. MAY W'HYTE.' 

